Method of building levees and embankments



Oct. 29, 1929.'

A. J. SHEA METHOD OF BUILDING LEVEES AND EMBANKMENTS Filed Aug. 18, 1928 JAM-N704 .drlwn/ $14 4 A In and, r

Patented Oct. 29, 1929 PATENT OFFICE ARTHUR J. SHEA, F MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE METHOD OF BUILDING LEVEES AND EMBANKMENTS Application filed August 18, 1828.

This invention relates to a method of building levees or embankments and relates particularly to a method for doing this where the cross-section of the embankment is such as to require transportation of the material from a somewhat remote point in order to secure suflicient material for the purpose.

In the building of a levee such as'is used to prevent overflow of rivers, and typically such a levee as is used for the protection of alluvial lands along the Mississippi River, the base of the levee is often more than two hundred feet wide, the amount of ground which must be left untouched, adjacent the toe of the levee, is as much as one hundred feet in width and the borrow pit from which material is excavated to build the levee is comparatively shallow. It follows then that in order to get a sufficient amount of dirt from the borrow pit the pit must extend a distance of several hundred feet further away from the levee.

As the size of levees have been enlarged and these distances have increased it has become increasinglydiificult to place the material excavated in the levee embankment. especially as the embankment approaches its maximum height, various expedients have therefore been resorted to for the transportation of the materials. All of these expedients have required either excessively expensive. and, what is even worse, cumbersome machinery, expensive and repeated rehandling of the material; or where the material quired the construction of a dumping trestle or incline, and the hauling of material up such trestle or incline which is slow and ex has been economically transported has re-- Serial No. 300,506.

after set forth may be accomplished and in addition have shown these as operated to build a typical river levee.

In the drawings Fig. 1, is a sectional elevation taken as on the line II of Fig. 2, show ing typically one form of the machinery which must be employed;

Fig. 2, is a plan view showing a typical operation layout;

Fig. 3, is a sectional elevation on the line IIIIII of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrow;

Fig. i, is a reduced scale plan outlining a longitudinal pit and typical layout.

Referring now to the drawings, 10 is the levee or embankment which is being built. 11 is an elongated pit or dump-pit, which in the case of a levee embankment ordinarily lies within the confines of the embankment, when same is completed, and which may so lie in the case of other embankments, though not necessarily so. This pit may lie transversely to the line of the embankment as shown in Fig. 2, or along the line of the embankment as shown in Fig. 4, in which latter case it would preferably be continuous; or it may lie atsome other angle. The pit is preferably elongated in order that material may be dumped into it from one side over a considerable distance, whereby for instance a train load of dirt might be spotted along the side of the pit and a number of cars be dumped therein, or even in some cases the entire train load, without re-spotting. The pit is preferably comparatively. shallow, with the side slope 12 as steep as the natural ground, in which the pit is dug, will stand up for the limited period of its use and with the opposite slope l3 much flatter. 14 is an excavator, which may be of any desired make or design. which excavator preferably does not require a track but may be shifted along the ground and which excavator may be used for digging the pit 11 and depositing the material there from in the proposed embankment, and thereafter may be used for removing dumped material from the pit and placing such material in the embankment.

Located adjacent the dumppit 11, and lying substantially parallel to the length thereof, is a railroad track which extends laterally at such angle as may be desired to a point where material may be loaded to be transported to the dump-pit. 16 are dump cars and 17 a locomotive for handling the same. 18 is an excavator for loading the cars and 19 a borrow pit from which material is being secured for the embankment.

In the drawings a typical cross-section of borrow pit and standard levee twenty feet in height is shown. Assmnin for example such an embankment, roughly 2,000 cu. ft, of dirt would be required for each foot of embankment and the base width of the embankment from toe to too would be 180 feet. Between this toe and the borrow pit from which the dirt taken, what is called a berm is required, which berm is often 100 feet wide. Requirement is made that the borrow pit shall be shallow, and it as shown, it is restricted to an average five :tcet depth the necessary width of the borrow pit would be some 400 feet. In such an embankment a dump pit, say one hundred feet long and five feet deep is dug, the ends of this pit lying well within the confines of the embankment. The pit is located at such distance from the end of the embankment that it may be reached by the bucket of an excavator positioned approximately half way between the embankment and the pit, and in the line of progress of embankment construction. The track 15 is laid along the side of this pit most remote from the embankment and extended over to the further side of the proposed borrow pit and preferably somewhat beyond the same. The excavator 18 is used to load dirt from the borrow pit into the cars 16, and thereafter the cars are moved alongside the dumping pit and are dumped thereinto. The dirt so dumped is then picked up by the excavator and placed in the embankment.

When the embankment encroaches on the dump pit excavator, the latter is moved toward the dump pit until further movement is impossible or at least undesirable, after which it may be shifted beyond the dump pit and a new pit dug, as indicated by the dotted location 11X. The tracks are correspondingly shifted beyond the new dump pit, the borrow pit excavator is likewise shifted, and the procedure repeated.

In some cases it is more convenient to bring the track in from the borrow pit at an angle to the embankment in which case it might be more convenient to locate the axis of the dump-pit at a corresponding angle.

It may be found expedient to substitute a longitudinal dump pit for other forms of pit. In such case the pit may be excavated as far in advance as may appear desirable and be thereafter extended as shifts make it necessary. Such method is typified in Fig. at, with the dump pit designated by the numeral 20, and an extension thereof by the numeral 20K. The track in this case preferably curves around until parallel with the pit.

It will be understood that only such detail as may be included in any claim shall be pertinent thereto, and that types of ma chinery indicated or means of transportation shown are illustrative only and unless specifically set out in a claim shall not form a limitation thereof.

Having described my invention what I claim is:

1. The method of building a levee or permanent embankment which comprises excavating a temporary dump-pit on the site of the proposed embankment, loading mate rial at a remote point, transporting such material to and dumping same into said pit, removing the material from said pit and depositing it to form a levee or permanent ema bankmcnt until said embankment encroaches on the dump-pit, and in then abandoning and filling the dump-pit with the excavated material and continuing the building of the embankment over said dump-pit.

2. The method of building a permanent en'iiiiankment by longitudinal extension, which comprises excavating a temporary dump-pit lying within the area to be occupied by the embankment, excavating and trans porting material to and dumping same into said pit, removing the material from the pit and placing same directly on said embankment, and as said embankment encroaches on said pit, then in advancing the pit in a line longitudinally of the embankment, and in successively filling the abandoned portion of the pit with the material excavated so as to continue the building of the embankment over the successively abandoned portions of the pit.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aii'ix my signature.

ARTHUR J. SHEA. 

